


Strength in Numbers

by TifosaAtHeart (F1_Fanatic)



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Charles is a university student Seb is his teacher, Charles just keeps telling himself he's not good enough, Gen, Light Angst, Self Esteem Issues, well i'm not sure this is what it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29817612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_Fanatic/pseuds/TifosaAtHeart
Summary: Sometimes, you just need someone to remind you that you're doing the best you can.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc & Sebastian Vettel
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29
Collections: Winterbreak Writing Challenge (2020)





	Strength in Numbers

**Author's Note:**

> Written for week nine of [scarletred's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletred/) amazing Winter Break Writing Challenge. Initially, I had something entirely different drafted out but I just needed soft math teacher Seb.
> 
> I actually feel bad for always being so late with these 😔 But well, life is a mess at the moment.
> 
> Hope you enjoy and please kudo or comment!

Charles usually loved math. The ability to explain everything via logic and understand better the world around him fascinated him. It was the reason why he'd always been interested in machines and when it was time for him to apply to university he was certain that mechanical engineering was what he wanted to do.

However, as he sat there now, frowning at what his teacher was trying to explain, he really was questioning his choices. Admittedly, it was quite a prestigious school and all the students were incredibly smart and talented. Charles was the odd one out as he'd been accepted due to a football scholarship and sometimes he wished he'd just stuck to doing sports. At least, he was good at sports.

It wasn't like Charles was dumb or anything. After all, he'd gotten good grades throughout high school and even now he could handle math pretty well with a bit of an extra help. 

(If you're wondering, the extra help was Cate, his best friend's girlfriend, who was studying aerospace engineering. She was also one of the few people that always managed to reassure Charles that he wouldn't fail his degree.)

It was just that Charles learnt at a slower pace. He needed more time to process stuff and just a couple of hours in class every week wasn't enough for his brain to catch up with all those complex calculations. He was also a shy person and hated standing out and being the center of attention. Therefore, he wouldn't even dare to ask during class for things to be explained twice.

Besides, everyone else seemed to do just fine. So, maybe he was the problem. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be an engineer and he'd been wrong when he thought that he could do this for a living.

Charles sighed, exhausted from constantly doubting himself. He picked up his pen and scribbled some notes, hoping that Cate would help him make sense of them later.

“Charles?”

He lifted his eyes from his notebook to find his instructor smiling at him kindly.

“Do you mind staying behind for a moment after class?”

Charles's stomach did a small flip. From his personal experience, he knew that this couldn't be anything good. He was probably going to be lectured again for not trying hard enough and falling behind with his studies. He'd gotten those quite frequently when he was at school and he could still remember how useless they made him feel and how he'd always cry afterwards, believing that he could never achieve his dream.

It wasn't his fault. His brain just worked differently from most people's.

He nodded at the teacher hesitantly, tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. He feared that he'd have to suffer through it all again and honestly, after months of struggling with something as important for him as math, he wasn't strong enough to not drop out of university if he was told to his face that he wasn't intelligent enough to become an engineer.

He failed, however, to notice that his teacher's face had a soft look and radiated nothing but warmth and kindness.

When their lesson was over and the classroom started emptying out, Charles didn't bother with collecting his books and notebooks and instead hugged the strap of his backpack to his chest, feeling nervous and wanting this to be over and done with already. His instructor, on the other hand, took a good chunk of time to say goodbye to the other students and tidy his belongings carefully. Charles rolled his eyes but at the same time he was meticulously observing the other man.

Professor Sebastian Vettel was one of the very best not only in their school but also in the scientific community in general. He'd graduated two years early because of his exceptional intelligence levels and since then, he'd conducted a lot of studies, given lectures to the world's finest universities and received many international awards.

He was also well liked and respected by his students. He had a reputation of always being willing to offer his advice and guidance and keeping an eye on everyone who needed it. He was Cate's favorite instructor and Charles himself had been excited about the prospect of being trained by a well known genius. He looked up to the German a lot.

Although, he wasn't sure that his opinion on Sebastian would remain the same after this meeting. At the moment, he was inclined to believe that he was yet another one of those teachers that only cared about the payment and completely ignored their students's feelings.

Sebastian approached him slowly, pulling up a chair to sit across from Charles, their legs brushing against each other under Charles's desk. He grabbed Charles's notebook, flicking it open on a random page, and then borrowed his pen, writing something down. Charles gulped, hoping this wasn't some sort of a test that he had to pass because he would probably mess up in epic proportions.

But Sebastian smiled, turning slightly so that Charles could clearly see his handwriting. “How about I explain this again, yeah?”

Surprised and confused, Charles listened to his teacher as he went on filling in the gaps in Charles's knowledge, showing him how to work with multiple functions. Numbers danced in front of his vision and for the first time in months everything made sense. Soon enough, Charles was able to reach conclusions on his own, Sebastian only speaking when he needed to make a small correction or to praise Charles when he managed to complete a task.

Charles felt bad for immediately assuming the worst about Sebastian's intentions and he was grateful that he now had someone else to rely on apart from Cate but still there was one question that persisted in his mind.

“Why are you helping me?” he asked, no beating around the bush and without raising his eyes from his notes.

“I'm a teacher, Charles. My job is to help students” Sebastian downplayed what he had done as if it was nothing even as he pointed it out a mistake in Charles's calculations.

Charles dutifully corrected it. “You don't have to, though. No else seems to have any problems with your course. Perhaps I'm just not clever enough to understand math and be an engineer.”

In an instant, Sebastian's demeanor turned cold and distant. “Who told you that?” he demanded and Charles wished he'd kept his mouth shut and not ruined the nice atmosphere between them.

“My high school teachers” he replied in a small voice, still not looking at the German because there were tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. “My grades weren't as good as some of my classmates and more often that not I was told to study more.”

Sebastian was still silent and Charles risked a glance at him, only to find his face contorted with what he guessed was annoyance. He quickly averted his eyes again, returning to his writing.

“Are you angry with me, Mr Vettel?”

Sebastian's expression immediately softened. “No, Charles. I have no reason to be angry at you, you've done nothing wrong.”

Relief flooded every fiber of Charles's body and this time, as his teacher continued talking, he allowed himself to make eye contact.

“I'm just sorry that you had to put up with something like that. No one deserves to be told that they're fighting a lost battle and you in particular, I can see that you're determined to make it to the top level.”

“I want to be an engineer, sir” Charles muttered like a mantra, a single tear falling down from the corner of his eye. Sebastian was annoyed with his teachers who made him believe that his dreams of working in the automotive industry were worthless, a waste of time and so far away from his reach. And though he probably wasn't aware of it, he'd just given Charles a huge confidence boost.

“And you're trying as hard as you can” Sebastian promised, smiling at him warmly. “You can do anything you make up your mind about if you want it bad enough.”

Charles blushed a little, not being used of such generous praise being directed at him. Most of the time, he'd sit quietly in a corner and try to keep up with his lessons, trying to figure it out on his own.

Sebastian mentioned another difficult lesson that Charles didn't grasp completely. “Want me to explain this as well?”

Charles wanted to learn everything from this man. He made it all sound simple and under Sebastian's guidance Charles was able to work efficiently, finishing all of his homework.

When he checked his watch again, he had spent nearly three hours in here with Sebastian and he was now picking up his things, preparing to go home.

“Thank you for today, sir” he waved at his teacher as he made his way out of the classroom.

But Sebastian shook his head. “Nothing to thank me for, Charles. And if you ever need more help, I'll be there, okay?”

Charles nodded, allowing the miniscule of a smile. Then, he turned to leave but his name being called stopped him dead on his tracks.

Sebastian was smiling at him. “You'll be a brilliant engineer, Charles.”

The way Charles's eyes immediately lit up, beaming at him with that million watt smile of his, made Sebastian think that quitting his research to become a teacher instead was totally worth it. 

“Thank you, sir.”

**Author's Note:**

> Believe in yourselves, my darlings 💚


End file.
